Spiritually informed not-for-profit performance measurement

Performance measurement has far-reaching implications for not-for-profit organizations because it serves to legitimize, attract resources, and preserve expectations of stakeholders. However, the existing theory and practice of not-for-profit performance measurement have fallen short, due in part, to an overuse of profit-oriented philosophies. Therefore, we examine not-for-profit performance measurement by utilizing Marques’ (J Bus Ethics 92:211–225, 2010) “five spiritual practices of Buddhism.” Marques’ spiritual practices—a pro-scientific philosophy, greater personal responsibility, healthy detachment, collaboration, and embracing a wholesome view—are the foundation of our research design. Responses from senior not-for-profit practitioners (n = 63) support the linkages between spiritual practices and not-for-profit performance measurement. We identify three essential performance measurement principles and elaborate on their capacity to generate awareness, higher meaning, and connectedness within not-for-profits

Orbital damping of the oscillating superfluid He A-B interface at low temperatures

We present a model for the friction and effective mass of an oscillating superfluid He A-B interface due to orbital viscosity in the B-phase texture close to the interface. The model is applied to an experiment in which the A-B interface was stabilised in a magnetic field gradient at the transition field mT at 0 bar pressure and at a very low temperature mK. The interface was then oscillated by applying a small additional field at frequencies in the range 0.1-100 Hz. The response of the interface is governed by friction and by its effective mass. The measured dissipation does not fit theoretical predictions based either on the Andreev scattering of thermal quasiparticles or by pair-breaking from the moving interface. We describe a new mechanism based on the redistribution of thermal quasiparticle excitations in the B-phase texture engendered by the moving interface. This gives rise to friction via orbital viscosity and generates a significant effective mass of the interface. We have incorporated this mechanism into a simple preliminary model which provides reasonable agreement with the measured behaviour

Implementation of a screening program for patients at risk for posttraumatic stress disorder

Introduction Implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) recipients who suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are known to be associated with significant cardiac-specific mortality. Clinical observations suggest that PTSD is frequently undetected in ICD recipients followed up at electrophysiology (EP) outpatient clinics. Early recognition of PTSD is important to reduce the risk of serious manifestations on patient outcomes. Methods All ICD recipients aged 19 years or older at the Washington University School of Medicine (WASHU) EP clinic, a large urban EP clinic, were invited to participate in the project. An informed consent letter with an attached primary care: posttraumatic stress disorder (PC: PTSD) survey was offered to the participants who met the inclusion criteria. Those who completed the survey were included in the project. Individuals with positive survey result were offered a referral to mental health services. Comparisons between PTSD and non-PTSD patients were done using a two-sample t -test for continuous variables. Using Fisher's exact test, PTSD prevalence was compared to the study by Ladwig et al in which prevalence was determined as the proportion of patients with positive findings of PTSD ( n = 38/147). All analyses were conducted using SAS v9.4. The proportion of patients having PTSD was determined and an exact 95% confidence interval was evaluated based on the binomial distribution. Results Using a convenience sample, 50 ICD recipients (33 males and 17 females) were enrolled. The project had a 30-day outcome period. Nine (18%) of the 50 participants had positive PC: PTSD findings and all these nine participants were referred to a mental health specialist. The current project demonstrated an 18% (9/50) PTSD prevalence rate when compared to a 26% (38/147) prevalence rate in the study by Ladwig et al ( P = 0.34). Although this project did not demonstrate 20% PTSD prevalence rate, as hypothesized, the 18% PTSD prevalence rate is consistent with previous research. Conclusion The prevalence of PTSD noted in the current project is consistent with previous research and validates underrecognition of PTSD in ICD patients. Offering a referral to all ICD recipients at EP clinic visits with a positive PC: PTSD screening to a mental health specialist is an important step in reducing the risk of serious manifestations on patient outcomes

Constraints on ocean circulation at the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum from neodymium isotopes

Global warming during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) ĝ1/4 ĝ€55 million years ago (Ma) coincided with a massive release of carbon to the ocean-atmosphere system, as indicated by carbon isotopic data. Previous studies have argued for a role of changing ocean circulation, possibly as a trigger or response to climatic changes. We use neodymium (Nd) isotopic data to reconstruct short high-resolution records of deep-water circulation across the PETM. These records are derived by reductively leaching sediments from seven globally distributed sites to reconstruct past deep-ocean circulation across the PETM. The Nd data for the leachates are interpreted to be consistent with previous studies that have used fish teeth Nd isotopes and benthic foraminiferal δ13C to constrain regions of convection. There is some evidence from combining Nd isotope and δ13C records that the three major ocean basins may not have had substantial exchanges of deep waters. If the isotopic data are interpreted within this framework, then the observed pattern may be explained if the strength of overturning in each basin varied distinctly over the PETM, resulting in differences in deep-water aging gradients between basins. Results are consistent with published interpretations from proxy data and model simulations that suggest modulation of overturning circulation had an important role for initiation and recovery of the ocean-atmosphere system associated with the PETM

Turbulent drag on a low-frequency vibrating grid in superfluid He-4 at very low temperatures

We present measurements of the dissipative turbulent drag on a vibrating grid in superfluid He-4 over a wide range of (low) frequencies. At high velocities, the dissipative drag is independent of frequency and is approximately the same as that measured in normal liquid He-4. We present measurements on a similar grid in superfluid He-3-B at low temperatures which shows an almost identical turbulent drag coefficient at low frequencies. However, the turbulent drag in He-3-B is substantially higher at higher frequencies. We also present measurements of the inertial drag coefficient for grid turbulence in He-4. The inertial drag coefficient is significantly reduced by turbulence in both superfluid and normal liquid He-4

Enhanced Transmission Through Disordered Potential Barrier

Effect of weak disorder on tunneling through a potential barrier is studied analytically. A diagrammatic approach based on the specific behavior of subbarrier wave functions is developed. The problem is shown to be equivalent to that of tunneling through rectangular barriers with Gaussian distributed heights. The distribution function for the transmission coefficient $T$ is derived, and statistical moments \left are calculated. The surprising result is that in average disorder increases both tunneling conductance and resistance.Comment: 10 pages, REVTeX 3.0, 2 figures available upon reques

The effect of surveillance and appreciative inquiry on puerperal infections : a longitudinal cohort study in India

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

INCITS W1.1 Standards for Perceptual Evaluation of Text and Line Quality

INCITS W1.1 is a project chartered to develop an appearance-based image quality standard. This paper summarizes the work to date of the W1.1 Text and Line Quality ad hoc team, and describes the progress made in developing a Text Quality test pattern and an analysis procedure based on experience with previous perceptual rating experiments

Open-target sparse sensing of biological agents using DNA microarray

Background Current biosensors are designed to target and react to specific nucleic acid sequences or structural epitopes. These 'target-specific' platforms require creation of new physical capture reagents when new organisms are targeted. An 'open-target' approach to DNA microarray biosensing is proposed and substantiated using laboratory generated data. The microarray consisted of 12,900 25 bp oligonucleotide capture probes derived from a statistical model trained on randomly selected genomic segments of pathogenic prokaryotic organisms. Open-target detection of organisms was accomplished using a reference library of hybridization patterns for three test organisms whose DNA sequences were not included in the design of the microarray probes. Results A multivariate mathematical model based on the partial least squares regression (PLSR) was developed to detect the presence of three test organisms in mixed samples. When all 12,900 probes were used, the model correctly detected the signature of three test organisms in all mixed samples (mean(R2)) = 0.76, CI = 0.95), with a 6% false positive rate. A sampling algorithm was then developed to sparsely sample the probe space for a minimal number of probes required to capture the hybridization imprints of the test organisms. The PLSR detection model was capable of correctly identifying the presence of the three test organisms in all mixed samples using only 47 probes (mean(R2)) = 0.77, CI = 0.95) with nearly 100% specificity. Conclusions We conceived an 'open-target' approach to biosensing, and hypothesized that a relatively small, non-specifically designed, DNA microarray is capable of identifying the presence of multiple organisms in mixed samples. Coupled with a mathematical model applied to laboratory generated data, and sparse sampling of capture probes, the prototype microarray platform was able to capture the signature of each organism in all mixed samples with high sensitivity and specificity. It was demonstrated that this new approach to biosensing closely follows the principles of sparse sensing.Mitre Corporatio